Of Course People are Pirating Game of Thrones When it's This Bloody Expensive to Watch Legally

The lack of affordable legal ways to watch popular fantasy piece Game of Thrones is triggering a boom in piracy, with traditional broadcast networks using it as a tantalising reason for us to pay real money to stay up with the latest episodes.

The fear of being seen as a social outcast because you haven't seen the most recent episode within 90 minutes of its broadcast is costly for some. According to a list of premium TV costs assembled by TorrentFreak, an Australian viewer who wishes to watch GoT through a legal TV stream would have to pay a staggering $52 (£29) per episode to do so, although that's making the rather large assumption that someone might take out a TV subscription solely to watch one specific TV show.

Those here in the UK currently resisting a Sky subscription would need a package including premium channel Sky Atlantic to watch the newest episodes, and applying the same weird logic in assuming one might sign up specifically to watch GoT, the 12-month minimum contract requirement would mean it'd cost £25.80 per episode to watch it.

And the success of the fantasy romp really is driving traffic to the torrent sites. The Pirate Bay currently shows that around 78,000 people are in the process of digitally borrowing the most popular rip of the most recently broadcast episode. [TorrentFreak]